“Go. The fuck. Away.”
Dax’s eyebrow lifted up his forehead. “Geez, Red Hot. You’re awfully cranky. What’s wrong, is it that time of the month or something?”
If Ria rolled her eyes any harder, they would roll right out of her head, across the floor, down the stairs and straight out of the house.
“Yes, as a matter of fucking fact, it fucking is, you motherfucking genius.” She growled through gritted teeth.
Both Dax’s eyebrows shot up his forehead then, along with Jace’s, while Tallen began shifting nervously from one foot to another, his hands shoved so deep into his pockets he was practically pulling his pants right off his hips. The obvious discomfort Jace, Dax, and Tallen were exuding was almost enough to make Ria smile if it weren’t for the umpteenth round of pain pulsing through her gut. They were clearly at a loss as to what to say or do.
Ria eyed Dax plaintively. “Hey, healer boy, get those magic hands over here and fix me.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Dax nervously eyed her before speaking. “Um…it doesn’t really work that way, Red Hot. I heal wounds or illnesses. This…this is just a natural part of, um…well, being human.”
“So is dying of the plague, but I bet you could heal that fucking shit up real quick.”
More nervous neck rubbing. “It’s…it’s not the same, sugar.”
“Oh, don’t you try to fucking sweet talk me with that sugar bullshit.”
“Please believe me, Ria,” Dax begged, surprising her by using her actual name instead of the nickname he’d bequeathed her. “If I could fix this for you, I would.”
“Then find me a doctor to surgically remove my damn woman parts.”
Stepping forward, Cade lifted a single hand as if to separate the two. “Alright, I think now is the right time for me to step in. Dax, go get some Ibuprofen from the bathroom. Jace, our firecracker here will not be doing any training this morning, so perhaps you could let her rest for a while and head to the store to find a heating pad or rice pack that we can heat in the microwave. Tallen, go retrieve my laptop from my bedroom, please.”
All three guys disappeared in an instant, as if they were only waiting for permission to escape from the situation they had unwittingly stumbled upon. Cade turned back to Ria’s curled up form and, shocking the hell out her, proceeded to pull himself up onto the bed next to her, lying over the comforter as if it were a daily occurrence.
She turned her had slightly, eyeing him from the side of her vision. “What the hell are you doing, Cade?” She didn’t even have the energy to use his nickname.
He shrugged as he leaned back against her headrest, folding his long, lean arms over his torso and invading Ria’s nose with his familiar, musky cologne. A fleeting memory of a soft kiss against her forehead drifted through Ria’s mind.
“Are you the one who brought me to bed last night?”
“Mm-hmm.” He responded with a slight nod of his head.
Quietly, she considered his response before eyeing him again.
“You’re not gonna try to, like, snuggle with me right now, are you?”
It was his turn to give her the side-eye. “Do you want me to?”
“Hell fucking no.”
“I had an inkling that would be your response. Not, I will not.”
A second later, Dax and Tallen entered the room, Tallen carrying a sleek, silver laptop under his arm and Dax with a bottle of pain relievers in one hand and a glass of water in the other. He opened the bottle and shuffled out two capsules before moving over to Ria’s side of the bed, handing the capsules and waiting for her to place them on her tongue. After she downed them with a large gulp of water that she impressively managed to drink without actually sitting up, Dax placed a gentle hand on her head and gave her a sympathetic look.
“I really would help if I could.”
She gave him a rather pathetic smile. “I know. Being a chick sucks ass.”
“I dunno. I think it has some perks.”
“Tell that to my uterus.”
Giving her a wry smile, he moved away from the bed as Tallen handed the laptop over to Cade, shooting Ria a small smile in the process. They both silently left the room after that, and Tallen even blew a small raspberry at her before closing the door.
“Asshole.” She muttered under her breath as she waited for the painkillers to kick in. Beside her, she heard Cade clicking away on the keys of his laptop before the sweet sound of one of her favorite shows echoed through the laptop speakers.
She slowly turned over so she lay on her other side, wincing through the pain in her abdomen. “A World of Dance marathon? For me?”
“Well, to be fair, it’s for me too. Or at least, a little bit.”
Smiling softly, she settled in to watch.
**************************************
An hour and a half later and Ria’s cramps were finally down to a manageable level, allowing her to more fully enjoy and participate in watching her favorite dance show. She’d maneuvered herself over until she was curled up against Cade’s side like a little parasite, leeching his body heat through the covers. Jace had come and gone with the heating pad that was now plugged into the wall and settled against her lower back. He’d left with a smile and promise that training would be back on the next morning.
“Oh my freaking gods, did you see that? They are so effing awesome! How did they even do that? They were like ‘wah!’ and then J-Lo was like ‘Wha’ and I was like ‘duuuude’.” Ria fluttered her hand at the screen in amazement as she commented on the skill of the performing dance troupe. “I frickin’ need to work out more so I can get on this show and ask Derek Hough to marry me.”
Cade stared at her. “You actually want to work out? More?”
Ria silently watched the dance group finish their routine. “No, you’re right. That can’t possibly be healthy for me.”
“Of course it would be healthy for you. That wasn’t even what I asked. I asked if you wanted to.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him as she side-eyed him. “You and I have some very different ideas on what constitutes healthy.”
Cade grinned as he responded. “No, I suspect your idea of healthy would be eating bacon non-stop while watching Supernatural on repeat. Am I right?”
“Ah, there we go. Now we’re on the same page.”
He laughed, that same honey-whiskey sound echoing through his laughter just as it did with his voice. A smile lit her lips as she watched him. “You know, Cadey, I really like you when you’re like this.”
Tilting his head ever so slightly, he peered at her with an inquisitive expression. “What do you mean?”
She laid her head back against her pillow as she stared up at the ceiling. “You’re more relaxed, more at ease. And the way you talk isn’t all stuffy and prissy.”
Cade made a choking cough sound. “Prissy? I am not prissy.”
“Oh, you totally are. What’s up with that? When you let yourself go a little, you seem so much more…comfortable. I guess…I guess I just want you to know you can be like that around me. You don’t have to be so uptight all the time.”
There was a moment of silence as she watched Cade contemplate her statement, the sound of music resonating from the laptop speakers as the next performer walked on stage. After a few more moments of silence, she began to wonder if he was going to respond at all.
“Do you want to know why I didn’t react like the other guys when we came in here earlier this morning?”
Screwing up the corner of her mouther in consideration, Ria nodded. “Yeah, actually, now that you mention it, that’s a really good point. How come you were mister level-headed, I-got-this-shit-you-peons-of-not-knowing-girl-stuff-can-leave guy? Like, you were on point with the Motrin and the heating pad and getting one of my favorite shows out—although, to be fair, I’d have also been equally as happy with Supernatural. Future reference.”
Reaching an arm around her shoulders, Cade pulled her into his side, to which she ha
ppily responded by wrapping an arm around his torso. Cade lovings was something she never really got experience, and of all the guys, he was the sweetest and most considerate.
“I basically raised my sister.” Cade’s voice broke into her musings quietly. She glanced up at him, watching an array of emotions pass over his face fleetingly, as if he were recalling a painful memory from long ago.
“You had a sister?”
His nod was almost imperceptible as he continued to watch the couple dance across the stage on the laptop. Ria’s gaze drifted back over to the screen, but she barely registered what was happening on it. This was a revelation to her. It shouldn’t have been. After all, Tallen had a brother, Dax almost had a child, but for some reason it was hard to connect the idea of Cade having family other than the guys with her brain.
“Her name was Emeline. She was my half-sister—half human, half demon—but that never mattered to me. She was the closest thing to family I had. Our mother never really bothered with either of us—she was a demon through and through, a true succubus, uncaring of anything other than intimate luxuries and draining humans of their sexual energies. She basically dropped my sister off in my arms and left. I was everything to my Emeline, and she was everything to me. I watched her grow into a beautiful, gentle young woman. I kissed every hurt and praised every accomplishment. Now, I’m not saying I was perfect. After all, at that time, I was very much like my mother in her craving of intimacies. But…I never would have…if I had known…”
Ria’s heart squeezed tight at the pain in Cade’s voice as he struggled to speak. Whatever had happened must have been horrible. How did these guys function with so much horror in their past? She was no stranger to trauma, but damn. Even she had to wonder how they managed.
“One day, when I was…away…they came for her. The demons of the slave market in the demon world. They kidnapped her and took her to be sold. Auctioned. Cambion are no more than servants in the demon world, and when I say servants, I mean slaves. They are treated horribly, all but tortured, in the worst of ways. By the time I found her…it was too late. She had been sold to a demon that used his female slaves as…toys to pleasure him. My baby sister died at the hands of a monster. She was…she was too gentle. And I wasn’t there. I should have been there. She deserved better.”
Glancing up out of the corner of her eyes, Ria realized Cade was quietly crying. Not an onslaught of tears, but a single teardrop trailing down his perfectly sculpted cheek. It was a heart-wrenching sight, watching one of the most important people in her life struggle not to break down, even though, if anyone deserved to, it was him.
She curled up tighter into his side, trying to comfort him but not knowing what words she could possibly say.
Taking a deep, shaky breath, Cade squeezed her in response, obviously picking up on her feeble attempts to console him.
She wasn’t hesitant to ask, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. “Is that why…is that why you act the way you do around me? Do I…do I remind you of her?” The idea that she might remind him of someone he lost was a painful possibility.
“After I lost her, I realized how little respect I had for women. Why should I? I was never raised to. But she forced shift in my way of thinking, and since then, I’ve done everything I can to treat women in the highest regard. But you, firecracker? No, you don’t remind me of her. She was sweet, quiet, timid even. Just hearing laughter from her was a rare treat. She was the epitome of a genteel woman of the times.”
“Genteel woman of the times? Exactly what times were these?”
A small chuckle. “The early 1800’s.”
“Jesus, you all are so old.”
Cade let out a full-blown laugh at that. “How does that fact still surprise you?”
“Well, it’s not like I’ve spent my whole life hanging out with a bunch of old-ass demons and angels. Gimme some kind of adjustment period or something. Geez.”
“Very well.” Cade responded around another chuckle.
She elbowed him gently. “If I don’t remind of your sister, don’t you think that means you an loosen up around me? I mean, I’m not some ‘genteel woman’, as you put it. I can kick your ass…actually, I probably can’t, but I could sure as hell try. Stop being so stuffy. It makes me feel kinda uncomfortable.”
He turned to look in the eyes. “I make you uncomfortable?”
Shrugging, she held up her thumb and forefinger so there was only half an inch of space between the two. “Little bit. I feel like I should start curtsying or something and believe you me—you do not want to see me curtsy. I’ll probably face-plant right in your crotch.”
“Well, we certainly don’t want that.” Cade remarked with a smile.
Ria felt her face heating up as she realized what she said. “Nope. Certainly don’t.”
“I’ll try to act more…eh…loose around you.”
She squinted at him. “That sounds kinda wrong.”
“I picked up on that.”
Snuggling back into his side, she smiled happily. It felt like barrier between them had come down, and she desperately hoped it would stay that way. She also kinda hoped Cade would take her dancing again.
“Hey, Cade. Can we go dancing again soon?”
“Of course, firecracker. After all, you need to show off your skills. You’re taking notes from all these routines we’ve been watching, right?”
“Uh…yeah. Of course. Totally. Watch me rock this plié shit.”
“Do you even know what a plié is?”
“Uh, yeah. It’s a dance move, duh.”
He laughed softly. “How about we just stick with salsa?”
“How about you bite me?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Don’t tempt an incubus with those kinds of things, firecracker.”
“Why, Mr. DeMonas. Was that a sexual inuendo you just threw me way?”
“Perhaps.”
Holding a hand to her chest, she let her eyelashes flutter dramatically and adopted a southern belle accent. “Why I never. Just who do you think I am, sir?”
“My little firecracker. And I hope you never change.”
“Oh, don’t you worry. I’ll always be this awesome.”
Chapter 9
Training the next morning went like usual—pain, misery, and a few lucky punches into Jace’s rock-solid gut. Ria was pretty sure her knuckles were bruised. What was he made of, concrete? Yeah, sure, it made for a pretty gorgeous specimen of manliness (angeliness?) but when it came down to landing a blow, all it led to was a pair of ice packs on her hands. Was it possible to develop calluses on one’s knuckles? If it was, Ria was certainly well on her way.
After a long, hot shower in which Ria soothed her sore muscles and daydreamed about beating the crap out of Jace (during which she may have focused a little too closely on his full, sexy lips and delicious six-pack), Ria opened the bathroom door to silence, steam billowing out of the room like fog.
“Yo, where the hell is everyone at?” Ria hollered when she reached the top of the stairs, her voice echoing through the house. “I’m feeling awfully lonely here!”
Footsteps shuffled on the first floor before Cade came into view. “Why are you hollering?”
“Cuz I’m too lazy to walk down the stairs.”
He glanced at the stairs, his platinum blonde hair gleaming in the sunlight streaming through the windows. “Were you not already planning on coming back down?”
Sighing heavily, Ria slowly ambled down the stairs, glaring at Cade the whole way down. When she got to the bottom, she quirked an eyebrow at him. “Happy?”
He shrugged, an uncommonly casual movement for him. “I wasn’t asking you to come down the stairs, I was asking if you were planning to come down the stairs. Also, Jace and Dax went to the store for groceries, and I haven’t a clue where Tallen is, but that’s pretty par for the course.”
She squinted at him curiously. “Do you not like Tallen? You guys seem to kind of get into a lot.”
“Of course, I don’t like him. He’s like an annoying little brother that I never wanted. I will, however, protect him with my life. Let’s hope it never come to that, however, because I will do it most begrudgingly.”
Grinning, Ria nodded in understanding. “I get that. He can be kind of mouthy.”
“Probably why you two get along so well since you’re pretty mouthy yourself.”
“What dat mouf do!”
Cade had been in the process of turning away from her when she said that, causing him to freeze mid-turn and peer back at her in surprised confusion.
“Just, uh…just ignore me, please.”
Hesitating briefly before turning away, Cade made his way towards the kitchen. “Are you hungry?”
She followed in his wake, eyeing his back suspiciously. “Why? Are you offering to cook me something?”
“Yes.”
Her head tilted to the side. “Can you cook?”
Shooting her a look of consternation he, he reached up into one of the cupboards and pulled down a large pot. “Just because Dax does the majority of the cooking doesn’t mean I am completely incapable.”
“Oh. I thought that was exactly what it meant.”
He heaved a sigh. “What it means, dear firecracker, is that he likes to cook. It’s soothing for him, just like annoying the crap out of Tallen is soothing for you.”
Ria grinned dreamily. “Yes, it really is calming for me.”
Eyeing her from the corner of his eyes as he filled the pot with water, he raised a single eyebrow. “Just be ware he finds annoying you equally soothing.”
“That asshole. This is a one-way road. I get to annoy, not the other way around.”
“That seems unfair.”
She shrugged carelessly. “I’m a girl, it’s my prerogative.”
“You be sure to explain it that way to Tallen.”
Walking into the kitchen, she leaned against the counter and crossed her arms as she watched him. “You think I won’t? I will take that challenge, sir. Just wait till he gets back. I’m gonna lay out how things work around here.”
Demon Bones: The Soul Series Book 2 Page 9